Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Championships: Day One

HOLLAND, Michigan, February 14. THE Olivet College men's swimming and diving team holds a slim 1/2 point lead after day one of the 2008 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Championships at the Holland Aquatic Center. The Comets have 160.5 points, while Hope College has 160 points. Kalamazoo College is third (112), followed by Albion College (90.5), Calvin College (76) and Alma College (47).

Olivet had a 1-2 finish in the one-meter diving competition. Shawn Bergman (Chelsea) successfully defended his MIAA title with 421 points. Andrew Wasson (Grand Ledge) was second with 413.05 points. Justin Hulsebos (Wayland) finished in seventh-place with 342.35 points.

The 200-yard freestyle and 400-yard medley relays placed third. Swimming on the 200 free relay were Mitch Powers (Kalamazoo/Central), Brad Voss (Lansing/Holt), Ryan Key (Phoenix, Ariz./Brophy Prep) and Kellen Beckwith (Farmington Hills/North Farmington) and their time was 1:25.72. The 400 medley team was Beckwith, Dustin Meisner (Temperance/Erie Mason), Rafe Maxwell (Bay City/Western) and Voss. They broke the school record and recorded a NCAA championships "B" cut time of 3:26.46. On the leadoff backstroke leg, Beckwith lowered his own school record and had a NCAA Championships "B" cut time of 51.06 seconds.

In the 500-yard freestyle, Olivet was 2-4-6 in the championship finals. Steven Davis (Davidsville, Md./DeMatha) led the way with a school-record time of 4:42.19. Jason Wheatley (Portage/Central) was fourth in 4:44.79, followed by Brian Jaffee (Bowling Green, Ohio) in sixth at 4:46.77. Kinsey took first-place in the consolation finals of the 500 free with a time of 4:49.15. Sam Jaffee (Bowling Green, Ohio) was 10th overall in the 500 (4:50.01).

The 200-yard individual medley featured three Olivet swimmers. Nathan Busscher (Hamilton/Holland Christian) placed fifth in 1:59.86, followed by Key in sixth, 2:00.09. Nathaniel Burchfield (Lansing/Everett) finished in 12th-place in the 200 IM (2:06.24). In the 50-yard freestyle, Voss tied for fourth place in 21.37 seconds, where the third to sixth-place finishers were separated by just two-hundreths of a second. Powers placed 10th with a time of 21.97 seconds.

After the first day of the 2008 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Championships, the Olivet College women's swimming and diving team stands in fourth-place with 73 points. Calvin College is first with 228 points, followed by Hope College (139) and Kalamazoo College (84).

The highest finisher for the Comets was Amy Johnson (Gaylord), who placed second in the 50-yard freestyle. Her time of 24.32 seconds was both a school record and a NCAA Championships "B" cut. Lisa Egelkraut (Battle Creek/Central) finished in eighth-place in the 500-yard freestyle with a lifetime best time of 5:20.75. In the three-meter diving competition, Sara Griffin (Brighton) was seventh with 324.80 points.

In addition, both the 200-yard freestyle and 400-yard medley relays were third. Joining Johnson on the 200 free relay were Jackie Taylor (Plainwell), Jami Lingbeek (Plainwell) and Kalee Redder (Grandville/Jenison) and their time was 1:41.23. The 400 medley relay team of Taylor, Erin Tramper (Jenison), Lingbeek and Johnson swam to a time of 4:04.97.

Special thanks to Olivet for contributing this report.

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